“Get your hands off of me!” the man yelled before turning around. But once he saw who it was, his hands dropped to his sides and his face grew pale. “Prince Ali!” he cried. He was a short man; a bit of gray peppered his hair and beard. “I apologize for my rudeness. I did not realize it was you. What can I do for you, Your Majesty?”
“Are you honestly going to pretend you didn’t just steal from me?”
“Steal from you?” the man gasped. “Never, sir!”
“How can you say that so confidently?” Aladdin stared at the man. “You’re holding my satchel in your hands right now and lying?”
The man stared at the satchel and yelped. It fell to the ground.
“I don’t understand it.” Aladdin picked up the satchel. “To take from me like this?”
“I am so sorry.” The man’s voice trembled. “Please forgive me.”
“You could have simply asked me if you needed money,” Aladdin continued. Jasmine had caught up to them now. “I would have helped you….” His voice trailed off when he opened the satchel. He ran his hand through it to be sure. There was no lamp, no gold coins in the satchel. Instead he pulled out work tools. Screws, nails, a small hammer.
“But this makes no sense,” Aladdin murmured. He looked down at his waist…and saw that his satchel was tied exactly as it had been.
Glancing around now, he saw that many of the men walking past wore similar satchels with the same gold ties. How could he not have noticed that before?
“I’m so sorry,” the man repeated. “I was fixing the furnace of Bilal’s restaurant. It’s always breaking down for one reason or other, as you know, and I’m the only one who knows how to get it work just right. I was rushing out the door to get back to my wife; I’m late for a wedding. I’d lost track of time. So I ran. But that’s no excuse. Forgive me for taking what belonged to you.”
“Forgive you?” Aladdin’s head throbbed. Why did this man not defend himself? Why did he accept the blame when he wasn’t at fault? He handed the man back his satchel. “This satchel doesn’t belong to me. I was mistaken. I should apologize to you. I hope you will forgive me.”
The man shrank from the satchel Aladdin proffered. “It’s yours, Prince.”
“No,” Aladdin said. “It’s not.” He placed the satchel back in the man’s hands. “I don’t understand. You only had to tell me what was in the bag. That you hadn’t stolen it.”
“And contradict the prince of Ababwa?” The man’s voice sounded incredulous. “I would never do such a thing. I am forever indebted to you for all you have done for our kingdom. The battle of Amad? The way you strategically sent in forces to save our homes from destruction? And who could ever forget the hunger years? The way you gave to your kingdom of your own belongings, distributing fairly so not a soul went hungry? You have saved our lives and our livelihoods countless times from destruction and peril. This entire kingdom, including myself, is indebted to you.”
But I haven’t done any of those things, Aladdin thought. He watched the man retreat into the distance, still uttering words of apology.
For the first time since they’d arrived in Ababwa, the reality of this kingdom finally settled in to him.
This kingdom.
It didn’t exist.
It was fabricated.
All the conquests this man loved him for had never happened. All these people who adored him and had lined the streets upon their arrival…what had he actually done to deserve their affection?
Nothing.
“It’s okay.” He felt the soft touch of a hand on his arm. Jasmine looked at him, her expression filled with concern.
“I humiliated a man old enough to be my father,” Aladdin said. “All because I assumed he was stealing from me. I didn’t even pause to think it through.”
“You acted on instinct. You didn’t know.”
“That was awful.”
“It wasn’t your greatest moment,” Jasmine conceded. “But mistakes are part of being human. History is full of kings and princes and viziers who make mistakes but never own up to them. You apologized to the man. You took responsibility. He knows your heart, and he knows all you’ve done for this kingdom. You’ve been a good leader for your kingdom, and he respected that.”
But I haven’t been a good leader, Aladdin thought. I am no leader at all. He could still see the look of fear in that man’s eyes. He knew that look. How many times had he been on the other end of such a false accusation? He knew the way it twisted at your heart like stalks of poison and how it eventually made you question your own worth.
Jasmine could tell him that he shouldn’t feel too bad, but it was only because she didn’t know the truth. She thought the man’s stories were true and that Aladdin had done all the great feats that the man spoke of with admiration. She did not know that none of these people truly loved him, because none of them was real.
The one thing Aladdin wanted more than anything was to be somebody worthwhile, but this wasn’t the way to do it. He looked at Jasmine, her arms crossed, watching him with a worried expression. Unlike himself, the princess who stood before him was the real deal. A leader who had spent her life studying and training and doing everything she could, even with her restrictive circumstances, to be someone who could lead someday.
And she deserved to lead real people whose lives she could truly and genuinely impact. As for Aladdin? He knew he wanted to be worthy of her admiration and respect, but he wanted to earn her love by being the man she thought he was.
And how could he do that in a kingdom built on a lie?
JASMINE AND ALI walked toward the palace down the cobblestoned street. The sun was all but gone now; street lanterns along the way lent a colorful glow to the city. Neither of them said it aloud just yet, but they both knew it was about time to leave.
She glanced over at Ali. Ever since the misunderstanding with the mechanic from the restaurant, he’d grown quieter. She could see by his expression how the guilt still clawed away at him. Jasmine wished she could say something to ease his conscience, but she also knew that as much as she might like to help him feel better, this was probably something he’d need to wrestle with on his own. She still couldn’t get over how nimbly he’d leapt out the window to run after the man—those were instincts she’d seen once before. The similarities continued to gnaw at her. Was she trying to force a connection between Ali and Aladdin that wasn’t there? Or was there something to her suspicions?
“I was thinking,” Ali said just then as they walked past a meadow. “Remember those stone steps we saw earlier by the cliffs? They’re right here. Want to check out what’s down there before we leave? Just one last stop…”
“One last stop,” she echoed. What would be the harm? “I’d love that.
“Those steps are safe?” she asked once they reached them. Up close they were steep and sculpted right into the cliffside.
“They look pretty sturdy,” he said. He got onto the first one and jumped down a step. “See? I know it’s dark, though. If you don’t feel safe, we won’t go down.”
“It’s bright enough with the moon. What’s down there exactly?”
